From: trader4@optonline.net
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Upgrades for New Construction
Date: 28 Jun 2005 12:05:05 -0700
   posting-account=vW3O0AwAAABxQqAj-ZYxYAKqrqLQW3tX

"But keep in mind, in some towns in NJ (like mine) taxes on new
construction are assesed by the TOTAL price
of the purchased home. That's why we took the crappiest kitchen the
builder offerend and will redo it
before moving in with an outside contractor. "

It's hard to imaging how you're ever going to come out ahead with that
scheme.  For one thing, it's up to the local tax assessor to determine
the assessed value of new construction, based on many factors.   I
don't believe that it's automatically the total purchase price, though
they may be doing that in your town.

Then there is the second issue, that NJ law requires periodic
revalutation of the entire municipality.  So, one day your house is
going to be revalued, including an inside inspection and any real
estate tax savings will only be temporary.  How soon it gets revalued
depends on a lot of things, but the longer it;s been since the last
one, the more likely one is coming soon.  Assuming you had a $400K
house and you ripped out the builder's kitchen and secretly put in a
new one, how much difference would it make in taxes?   Assuming it was
a $40K valuation difference, that would result in maybe $800 a year
difference in property tax.  At that rate, it's going to take a long
time to recover the cost of the cheap builder's kitchen that got ripped
out and more likely that a revaluation is going to occur first.

And of course, finally, is that to do the kitchen renovation in most
areas of NJ requires a building permit.  So, if you do it legally, they
are going to come and revalue the property anyway.

Doesn't seem like a good idea to me.